5 Dec 2009

“Sarcastic Orgasm was formed by Scott M. Phillips and John A. Hoppe, childhood friends from the great state of New Jersey. They started writing songs together in 1984 before being forced to leave Kent State University for shameful crimes against man and property. Sarcastic Orgasm came to the Washington D.C. area in 1985 and settled into a dusted out crack riddled northwest neighborhood rowhouse which was shared with friends and members of the band Christ On A Crutch. The two bands lived and rehearsed there without heat in a filthy delusional harmony, protected by exterior/interior motes of broken glass, razor wire, plastic gallon piss jugs and an army of partially trained rodents. Police visits for noise and odor complaints were common. Bass players and drummers came and went. Some lasted for a year or more. Others for one show. DC Space, Back Alley, Botswana, Rock Against Reagan, and 9:30 Club, were a few of the venues played in DC with bands such as Pussy Galore, Fugazi, Southern Culture On The Skids, Karen Black, Beefeater, God Is My Co Pilot, etc. Sarcastic Orgasm recorded a self titled 45rpm EP vinyl record and various other unreleased/lost recordings until disbanding in 1992 after moving to NYC.” Sarcastic Orgasm

22 Nov 2009

Never been to Wormer – a town located thirteen kilometres up north Amsterdam – but I definitely would like to. Why? Easy, because it had one of the most interesting scenes back in the day. Curious to know what was to be part of Wormer? Then, please read this.

The Ex – Money (1980)

Zowiso – Live @ Oktopus

De Groeten – Live @ Oktopus

Svatsox – Unplugged @ Oktopus (1984)

Villa Zuid was the “homebase of punkbands the Ex and Svätsox” and it was “squatted in August 1981. In the big garden next to the villa they organised every year a big party to celebrate this.”

20 Nov 2009

Minutemen
“You see, when Punk came, we were real embarrassed that we knew how to play. The other Punk bands were writing as they were learning. For us, we couldn't turn back the hands of the clock, so we tried all these real extreme devices to hide it, which we picked up from the English group Wire: you don't need verse/chorus, you don't need solos, you don't need shit. We thought Punk meant that no one was supposed to know you can play well! Then it seemed some Punk bands, as they played better, turned more Rock & Roll, and the joke was on us! We didn't give a fuck – no matter what we played, you could tell it was The Minutemen.” Mike Watt

16 Nov 2009

Beat Happening
“Here's my Beat Happening story. One day, spring of 1985 (I think), an Australian kid name of David Nichols showed up on my doorstep in Willesden Green clutching three records; seven-inch singles by Venom P. Stinger and Rabbit's Wedding, and the first Beat Happening album (the one with the cat on a rocket ship on a yellow background). He was on his way back home to Melbourne from Olympia, and had a 24-hour stopover in London, and had been given three addresses to try. So I invited him in, made a cup of tea, and stayed to chat a while. After he left, I figured I may as well listen to the record with the cat and I couldn't get past Heather's voice on 'Foggy Eyes', first song on. It brought tears to my ears. Stopped me dead. Killed me. A few days later, I called in to Rough Trade – Karen who worked there was just about the only PR who gave me free stuff back then, so I thought I'd repay favour by playing her the Beat Happening LP, too. She loved it too – and so did Geoff Travis, who later ended up releasing the trio's second album in the UK. Man, that felt good.” The Legend!

15 Nov 2009

Puritan Guitars
“Cardiff '80: Scritti Politti were the first band to print their manufacturing costs and supplier information on their record-sleeve… and this helpful gesture immediately touched off a widespread competition to show who could make their record out the cheapest. Indeed, an entire generation of bands were more likely to list their production costs than the band-members' names. So when later (and, naturally, anonymous) Cardiffians Puritan Guitars came out with '£100 in 15 minutes' b/w 'Making It' it was widely [mis]understood that they were singing/boasting about their manufacturing costs. (…) In truth, however, the £100 was the sum that Rough Trade had spent on an 'open bar' to celebrate the final gig of the Raincoats tour – which 'the assembled radical DIY types drank up in 15 minutes'.” Chuck Warner

Tandstickorshocks
Tandstickorshocks “were part of the Rondos/Red Rock scene, but while their 'big brother band' often played pretty catchy, fast songs, Tandstickorshocks's music is totally hook-and-chorus-free. Though they sound like they're just starting to learn to play, the playing is precise and to-the-point. It's not 'energetic' or even aggressive in the usual punk way. In places, the music reminds me of stuff like early Minutemen, Teenage Jesus, Red Krayola and early Scritti Politti, but the difference is those bands (and the Rondos, too) came from an art background, while Tandstickorshocks were genuinely young working class kids.“ Niels

Aventuras de Kirlian
“Once upon a time there was a band called Aventuras de Kirlian. They got together in early 1986 in San Sebastián, where they all came from, and their line-up was: Peru Izeta (stand-up drummer), Jone Gabarain (vocals), Teresa Iturrioz (bass) and Ibon Errazkin (guitar). They were influenced by Young Marble Giants, Cherry Red bands, early Talking Heads, Tamla-Motown and a few assorted psychedelic bands from the 60’s. But, most of all, what determined their style was the fact that none of them could play at all. So they started writing songs that never went further than one minute long and never had very complicated chord changes. They were called 'minimalists' from the very start, and there wasn’t much they could do about it. Anyway, that was never a big concern.” Elefant Records

14 Nov 2009

GOD
This is the first post of a series dedicated to the most minimal records ever made. And what better way to start the series than with this terrific artifact by this mysterious band called GOD. No sleeve, no info, no pictures, no lyrics sheet, just a black vinyl with the word “GOD” written on it by hand. In the purest minimalist approach, the song titles are “God Is Dood Nr. 2”, and “God Is Dood Nr. 3”. And as for the music, it sounds as it was the band's first attempt to record these two songs at the studio – or maybe at bedroom?, and I am pretty sure they did both songs in one take. Minimal as fuck, isn't it?

25 Oct 2009

This post is just a collection of images, words and sounds that tries to work as an interesting relation between Industrial music and Hardcore.

Flyer for a Throbbing Gristle & Flipper show (Raymond Pettibon, 1981)

“Genesis was really scary. There was something so intense about him on the stage; he looked so lizard-like-reptilian-with dark circles around his eyes. He would stalk around the stage with these paramilitary clothes on. There was this sonic maelstrom. In the audience were the most degenerated people I have ever seen. It was literally as if the people there had been let out of an insane asylum from the lowest level of Dante's Inferno. There was this creepy sexual vibe, Felliniesque in its utter decadence.” Richard Metzger

Throobing Gristle – Live @ Kezar Pavillion (San Francisco, 1981)﻿

“I started going to Hardcore shows. I appreciated the aggression, the violence, and the fierce independent attitude, which was antithetical to most other music of the time. I saw most of the early American Hardcore bands play, but like everything, it seemed to get co-opted. I was looking for something more extreme that didn't concede to popular opinion. That's how I started listening to Industrial Music.” Michael Moynihan

Michael Moynihan (Coup de Grace) – Live @ Oberhausen (1986)

“I suppose you were seeing something that hadn't been seen before. There was no pretentious Rock Star stuff. There's no bar, no pick-up scene. It was very intense and visceral, in close quarters.” Michael Moynihan

“The idea I had in my mind was of an electronic maelstrom. And in live situations people would have no choice but to be completely submissive to this kind of sound.” William Bennett

Hardcore kids during a Whitehouse performance (DC, 1983)

“Utilizing ear-shredding frequencies and demented vocal hysterics, Whitehouse terrified the frail and pleased only those with the most discriminating of tastes.” Michael Moynihan
Whitehouse – Live (1984)

“I did Noise Music because I genuinely liked noise. I thought it would extend the boundaries of music. I didn't do it to be confrontational. I assumed others would feel the same way, and find it exciting. But a lot of people didn't. At my concerts, people smashed beer glasses in my face.” Boyd Rice

Flyer for NON show @ Mabuhays Gardens (1982)

“They really disliked me. At the show I had these bright lights shining in their eyes so they could barely see me – they were trying to reach up and smash the lights, but the lights were just out of their reach. One guy in front who was a real hardcore punk was rolling around with his hands over his ears and actually crying – he had tears in his eyes. Somebody threw a beer glass that hit me on the forehead. And it broke, and I could feel this throbbing pain – it had a little bit of beer in it, and the beer ran down my face and I thought it was blood. I continued to be real friendly to the audience, which made them even madder, because they were so mad and I didn't care! They were shaking their fists at me, and I thought that at any minute there'd be a riot. So I took it as far as I thought I could, and then thanked them and left.” Boyd Rice

Hanatarash – Live (1985)

“Hanatarash are infamous for their extremely dangerous live shows consisting entirely of on-stage destruction and utter disregard for anyone's safety. The most notorious incident involved Yamatsuka throwing junk around with a backhoe inside a venue. On another occasion, he inflicted a deep wound on his leg with an electrical saw, but carried on with the show. A dead cat is also known to have been cut in half during a show. The band once caused so much damage to a live house in Kyoto that it was forced to close.”

Hanatarash – Art from We are Hardcore 5CDR set of early CS releases

“At a 1985 gig in Tokyo's Superloft, Hanatarash had the audience fill out forms relieving the band of responsibility for any possible bodily harm caused by the performance. The show stopped just as Yamatsuka was about to throw a lit molotov cocktail onto the stage, which was gasoline-drenched from a barrel. The performance cost the venue ¥600,000 ($6000) in repair costs.”

21 Oct 2009

“One cultural influence [on punk] that's been forgotten is Seventies minimalism. There was a concerted effort by bands like Suicide, Ramones and Talking Heads to follow the aesthetic that 'less is more' and to strip music down to its core… After all, most of the bands at CBGBs' had gone to art school or were aware of the art scene of the time.” John Holmstrom

“In minimalism, the object and the idea are one and the same. Minimalist artists, according to Kenneth Baker, strive to 'make us «see the whole idea without any confusion,» by seeing the object as the idea, that is, making meaning identical with the object's physical presence'. Of course, discovering punk for the first time, as a child, you never thought about wether it was minimalist or not. All you knew was that you loved it, and you wanted more. Why did you love it? Why did you want more? Because it said so much with so litte.” Nicholas Rombes

“Much has been said and written over the years about the amateurism of punk, but it wasn't a case of musicians deliberately trying to sing or play their instruments poorly, but rather, because so many of them were amateurs, they did not have to unlearn anything. In this respect, minimalism in punk was a condition of necessity, not choice.” Nicholas Rombes

As an example, here you have these two minimal-as-fuck songs. Drums and vocals only. Because you need nothing else, don't you?

Total Chaos – Revolution Part 10
You can get the original mp3 track here.

3 Oct 2009

This band was another great surprise from the Cake & Polka Parade, a really inspiring blog. The text below is the original written by Grego​ry Jacob​sen on his Damage post, plus a brief extract from an email I got from Damage's drummer after asking for more info about his band.

“Damage was a band out of Winterpark, Florida circa '84. They played hardcore music with synthesizers. Whereas Screamers and Nervous Gender were very inventive and threatening with their use of synths, Damage was extremely clunky and ineffectual… Which is why I love this record. Their screaming of generic punk lyrics over dry sine-waves farted out at the most most remedial level sounds like pure futile and infantile rage from a 13 year old.” Grego​ry Jacob​sen

“In the 1980s, Damage performed in Florida and was definitely different when it came to Punk music during that time. We opened for Black Flag, JFA, and The Dead Kennedys + others. It was raw and even Jello, from DK spoke highly of Damage in his California punk scene newspaper in California. (...) All hard copy music was produced in extremely limited quantities. I have become a better drummer since then – That was the first band I was in…” Joe (Damage's drummer)

Damage Jay Walk 7" (Space Fish, 1984)

Damage – Jock Mentality

By the way, it would be really nice to listen to more Damage stuff (that Tennis Shoe Massacre Demo anyone?). If so, please get in touch.

“As far as inept, crazed joi de vivre goes? Here's the acme. I've written this one up before and will do it again. While this is obviously a straight-ahead angry punk rock band, the abandon and enthusiasm of this record could raise the dead. An angry rant against organized religion ('I have this to say tonight? Never, never get involved with christianity!') howled in a barely English Johnny Rotten-imitation by some Norwegian genius backed by shitrock more primitive than the first Endless Boogie rehearsal. There is no sleeve, no labels, just the legend 'Pink Dirt Hey Sir/Hooker' scrawled in magic marker. Who were these gods and why did they walk among us? Please email me if you know anything about the people behind this stunning art experience.” Johan Kugelberg

11 Sep 2009

“The Last Song” by French Cold-Wavers Trisomie 21 has one of the most amazing bass lines ever played. I taped this song on cassette back when I was an avid radio fanatic, but it took me several years to know what band was behind such a masterpiece.

6 Sep 2009

Outpunk was a queer record label and magazine started by Matt Wobensmith in 1992. Zines! Vol. 1, a lovely book related to the art of doing fanzines, contained an interview with the creator of Outpunk. That interview is so great I thought it would be nice to post it on the blogsite. To me, it still sounds as fresh and inspiring as the first time I read it.

Outpunk #2 ½

And here's another great interview with Matt. This one was also made in 1996, and you can find it in the Punk Rock Academy website. I decided to copy and paste the whole interview because it's simply brilliant.

How have you seen punk rock change since you became involved with it?
It's gotten more diverse in style and politics, and conversely, certain elements are that much more purist and conservative.

Is it better now or worse than when you got involved?
Again, certain things are getting better - mainly, feminism becoming realized in punk; queer participation and co-option of punk; the use of punk's "outsider" identity for people on the fringes to identify with, however surface it may be. Those things are the true personification of what punk is about. On the worse side, punk has gone through an identity crisis, and now that lots of people appreciate its music and style, the remaining holdouts of the punk identity are trying to define themselves by their "politics." For example, militant animal rights, the anti-major label stance, the poverty trip, straight-edge, etc. - all are not inherently bad, but on a larger level represent the surface level fake politics that punk is barely capable of conveying. On an institutionalized level, punk politics are ignorance personified, and embody the racist, sexist, and classist structure that it claims to be different from. Punk ideology works in a make-believe world; it works as entertainment and fantasy. But in reality, it does nothing to solve world problems; it doesn't empower the truly oppressed because it's all about the views of an overprivileged class. Punk rock is not a valid political movement - It's a collection of idealistic and mostly naive people who yearn for more, yet settle for less.

What's good about it?
It allows people truly on the outside - some women, queers, people of color, fat people, and on - to find a niche where they can feel accepted. They use its ideas and pretense to make an identity that includes them. It provides some relief for all people to escape from their horrible surroundings. Entertainment does that for people, whether it's Screeching Weasel, Arnold Schwartzenegger, or Monday Night Football.

How have you seen the crowds and people at shows change?
More women, more queers; more affluent people; more Asian-Americans but less African-Americans.

Do you see any problems with the way people act at shows?
I'm glad moshing is going out of style - it's stupid and dated. Shoegazer dorks are starting to annoy me, though. People don't dance and they should. They don't dance because they're too macho, too uptight, too uncreative; a combination of these factors.

What can we do to make the scene better?
Destroy it. From the ground up.

Final thoughts? Anything you'd like to add?
It's 1996. Stop fooling yourselves!! There are people who are invested in feeding you nostalgia when you could be creating and enjoying your own. You are being manipulated! Consistency is overrated. Punk makes you conform big time - it makes you think you have to know all the answers to life at age 18 and then hold on to them forever. You're supposed to brag about how long you've been true to the cause. It's fucked. Listen: change is life. If you haven't changed, then you haven't grown. If your goal is to stay the same, then you're living in a fucking cave. There is a HUGE world out there and you are not a part of it. It's OK to admit you were wrong or naïve; reinvent yourself constantly! Most of the people interviewed alongside of me in this zine are fucked. I hate to be read in the context of such stupidity and narrow-mindedness. They don't have anything to say. It's one big in-joke that isn't funny, one without a greater meaning or context in the crazy fucking world we live in. Or rather, the one I live in. If I had to be around these people, I'd have to kill a few of them. You don't control your landlord, or your boss, or your family. If you get involved in a subculture, it'd better be exactly what you want and need. If not, then you look pretty stupid - you chose to be there. If punk sucks, it's not because you suck; it's because you finally woke the fuck up from your dream and decided to get real. Quit bullshitting like it's not true - you can fool everyone else, but look who's the real fool.

“Throughout the years 1986 to 1995 the band recorded several songs and practiced hundreds more while trends like neo-sothern rock, concepts like grunge and marketing terms like 'alternative' seemed to have destroyed any vestige of artistic expression in the 'underground'. To admit to being in a band was like admitting to a murder, to be viewed as just one more piece of driftwood waiting to be fashioned into a puppet of the corporate music army. For CIAJ, to not be heard from was like having all the perks of invisibility. It was also seemingly imperative for their collective mental health to stick together.”

Children in Adult Jails

During their whole existence, the main core of the band was Pseu and Diane, both ladies deeply involved in the underground music scene, doing since long time ago great radio shows on the cult WMFU Radio.

Children In Adult Jails – Brick House
You can download the whole album here.

“This song is one of a few early and seminal works of punk deconstruction of pop. It's entertainingly stupid, racist and features special guest Skippy the Sea Lion intermittently belching out the word 'House'. Recorded on 8 tracks in Caldwell, NJ back in 1984 I guess.” Pseu

26 Aug 2009

Grand Mal was just Wurm Baby with a different name. It started out circa 1982 being part of the amazing early 80s harDCore scene, sharing gigs with bands like Government Issue, Marginal Man, Second Wing and Bloody Mannequin Orchestra. The band was formed by Joey Aronstamn – voice, Malcolm Riviera – guitar, Don Diego – bass, and Linda LeSabre – drums.

Wurm Baby / Grand Mal, 1983. Pic by Cynthia Connolly

Recently, I had the chance to get in touch with Malcolm via email, and he was so extremely kind to share with me some early Wurm Baby / Grand Mal songs. I do think “Silent Scream” is really great, and it's a shame there was no Wurm Baby release back in the day.

“That was an early song that never made it to record, only demo. I think it set the tone for future Wurmbaby/Grand Mal songs: inner angst, negative emotions, that kind of stuff. The darker side of pop music. No love songs on the Wurmbaby set list! For some silly reason we didn't consider it high quality enough to release, but listening to it these many years later, it's really not bad and I wish now that we'd done a Wurmbaby 7" at least.” Malcolm Riviera

14 Jun 2009

Anarka And Poppy were created in Preston in late 1981 by “guitarist Sean Kirtley and vocalist Jane Mason, at the tender age of seventeen, originally as just a guitar/vocals duo.”

“The punk scene was pretty big in Preston about then. We tended to stick and work with the punks that had summat to say though, rather than with the poseurs. So, a good, co-operative, little ghetto was born in the heart of Preston; full of activity, never a dull moment, everyone was welcome… the 'other' punk bands all seemed to sound and look exactly like Discharge, and that was the more popular scene, to be honest. Jackets with studs on all that; fashionable cheese cloths, bum-flaps and bondage straps; we didn't look like that, so we never got too much attention from the 'hardcore'. We didn't really care though; they could all go to hell as far as we were concerned at that time. That was our general attitude.” Sean Kirtley

Anarka And Poppy

“As for the worst gig we ever played? That was with New Model Army and Here And Now at the Bier Keller in Blackpool. We forgot that we needed our own drum kit and New Model Army wouldn't lend us theirs. We didn't like the idea of playing with them anyway, so it was off to a strange start from the beginning. Then when the bastards wouldn't lend us their drums, it turned into a right arse of a night. Someone eventually persuaded them, but it was like, 'For Christ's sake, you pricks! They're only bloody drums!' Here And Now were a sound bunch though, and they played an excellent set.” Sean Kirtley

Anarka And Poppy – P.O.P.P.I.E.S.
By the way, any chance to listen to the Take It For Life cassette?

13 Jun 2009

What happens when you live in a country under a dictatorship during almost forty years, where all seems to be grey and boring, and society is very conservative and traditionalist – but then the dictatorship is over and a relative new freedom era begins? Try to imagine this situation being a teen. And now try to imagine you suddenly learn about Punk, Electronic music, Industrial, Goth, Synth, Psychedelia, and Two Tone Ska at the same time. Too many new sounds to discover that blow up your mind!

Well, this is the feeling I get anytime I watch these videos of late 70s and early 80s Spanish bands. They just did whatever they wanted to do and didn't care about anything or anyone. Now, let's enjoy!

13 Apr 2009

5 Apr 2009

“Pop music by its very nature is supposed to be throwaway and disposable and I wouldn't have it any other way. It usually goes something like this – buy a 7", listen to it, fall in love with it, play it everyday for a week, put on a compilation tape, file the single and rediscover it in 5 years time.” Sean (Rough Trade)

Well, this is exactly what happened to me with this song by B Team. The difference is I didn't buy the record, instead I got Homework #104. Please, visit their website!

4 Apr 2009

OK, minimal is electronics. But not only that. Minimal is the Ramones playing 3-chord songs in all their records (and not caring at all) and singing “Second verse, same as the first!”; minimal is Pink Flag by Wire (“Field Day for the Sundays” is 25 seconds long); minimal is the Urinals' Another EP andSix Minute War's More Short Songs EP; minimal is the Puritan Guitars and their love for repetition; minimal is Rondos, Tändstickorshocks and all the whole amazingly great Wormerpunk scene; minimal is the harDCore and Dischord “austerity attitude”; minimal is the back-to-basics and primitive recording techniques by Beat Happening / K Records; minimal is Young Marble Giants and Marine Girls, too. So maybe minimal is an approach, a way of doing things, an attitude, more than a music style itself.

Anyway, this post was only an excuse to share with you three topnotch minimal jewels I can't stop listening to. Honestly, “I'm Leaving” by A.B.C. is one of the best songs ever done. And now, let's spread the word: Less is more!

22 Mar 2009

Narthex was a DIY/Punk duo from Philly formed by guitarist Mike Ace and drummer Dean Sabatino (better known as Dean Clean), who later went to play with the Dead Milkmen.

Narthex (Mike & Dean)

“If nothing else, we at least picked up the DIY inspiration and passed it along to a few more people, who have stories of their own to tell. We were all part of a unique episode in musical/cultural history. Rather than leaving it to the distortions of critics and corporations, those of us who participated should all be sharing our first-hand accounts. There's a million stories out there in the eternal city of vans and station wagons, soundchecks and set lists, beer puddles and all-night diners, tedious time-killing and those fleetingly fantastic moments onstage. Hopefully, everyone's story will be told and preserved somewhere out here in the digital stew.”Mike Ace

18 Mar 2009

“Our first Wurm Baby show was a Muscular Dystrophy dance. Don said, 'How many people are dancing for handicapped children?' Everybody cheered. 'And how many people are here to win a trip to Florida?' They said we were makig handicapped jokes so they pulled the plug. But we weren't.”Joey Aronstamn (Banned in DC)

14 Mar 2009

Do you wear a leather jacket? Do you like tattoos? Do you like pierciengs? Don't you miss any punk/hc show? Are you part of the local scene? No? Really? And you don't give a fuck about all those things? Then please be welcome, and let me tell you I am so happy to meet you.

4 Feb 2009

So, did you think those Bullshit Detector compilation bands were amateurish? Ok, look at this video and tell me this is with no doubt the most badly, awfully and inept song ever played. But this is the reason why I consider this video so great and a true masterpiece in music history. It represents people finding their own voice and way of expression at its best.

Vroammmm! was formed by Mutfak, Thomas Zinke and legendary german underground musician Max Müller, who played in Honkas, in the huge influential act Campingsex (a favourite of mine), and with Mütter. By the way, his brother was Wolfgang Müller, who fronted the avantgarde band Die Tödliche Doris.

18 Jan 2009

This song by Kate Fagan has been on heavy rotation these days, and I think it is obscure enough to have a little bit of airplay. If I remember clearly, got this song via the great Cake & Polka Parade blog back in the day, but it seems nowadays the mp3 link is gone. So here you have the choice to listen to this little gem.

Kate Fagan was the lead singer of Heavy Manners, an early ska band from Chicago. They have reunited and you can see an early video of them here.